, opponents of president mohamed morsi plan a huge protest march and a general strike. crowds have started to gather in cairo's tahrir square. holly williams is in cairo. holly, good morning to you. what's the latest there now? >> good morning, terrell. well, president morsi's opponents are calling this a final warning to the president and his islamist allies. they're expecting tens of thousands of people today, perhaps more. they're angry about two things. first of all, president morsi's power grab of 12 days ago in which he gave himself expanded new authority. secondly, a draft constitution, which we put to a referendum, a popular vote in two weeks time. critics say it gives too prominent a role to islamic shari'a law but fails to protect some basic freedoms. >> despite protests there, if there's a vote on the constitution, will it likely go in president morsi's favor if there's even a vote at all? >> reporter: there's a very good chance that this draft constitution will pass at referendum, in part because many egyptians want stability after two years of political turmoil, and pe

thousands of demonstrators at the palace and president morsi reportedly slipped out a back door. we have more from jim maceda in cairo. >> reporter: tamron, this is what many here feared would happen. street battles breaking out between the morsi supporters and demonstrators. last night, it was opposition that seemed to score big, bringing out tens of thousands in to the streets and then of course marching on the presidential palace where eventually morsi andç his riot police were seen actually beating a tactical retreat leaving the palace grounds in the hands of baffled anti-morsi protesters. some of whom then erected tents as they have done in tahrir square. today it was the muslim brotherhood's turn calling a count count counterdemonstration and it wasn't long before they overwhelmed the 100 or so others demonstrating there. some tweeting from the palace areas said that the brotherhood chased off the protesters with clubs and stones leaving several bleeding in the streets and broken glass in their wake, as well. but tamron, even as this was unfolding yards away, it appears that

. egyptian president mohammed morsi backed off a decree giving him authority. he order aid new order giving military power to arrest sls while a new constitution is finalized and voted on this saturday. former president hosni mubarak issued a similar decree before he lost power declaring emergency law in egypt. meanwhile, the national salvation front, the secular liberal opposition, is considering a boycott of the charter vote and is calling for protests in advancing the vote this weekend. joining us now from cairo is nbc news foreign correspondent amman. thank you for joining us. my first question is just about the motivations, morsi's motive augustss here. initially when this sort of power grab, if you will -- we'll call it that -- began, there was some sense and some analysis that this was an effort to -- an effort at efficiency, to get things down and that the democratic process would be restored. that seems increasingly less the case. this seems like a consolidation of power. what is your read on the situation? >> well, i think it's very important to depending on who you ask you

other top stories making news right now. egypt's president, mohammed morsi rolling back part of the power grab he took two weeks ago which sparked violent protests, he insists referendum on a new constitution crafted by his islamist allies will go ahead and scheduled next weekend. meanwhile, nelson mandala remains in a south african hospital on this sunday. sources close to the mandala family tell nbc news there's quote no sense of panic. mandala had sympttomach surgery earlier this year. >>> and the fbi's headquarters may be moving. not soon, though, but perhaps eventually. the building sits right between the white house and the capitol. it's prime d.c. real estate so the agency that oversees the federal buildings is calling on ideas about where else it could house the gumshoe headquarters. in exchange they'll consider throwing in the j. edgar hoover building and the land it stands on. >>> turning to weed now, marijuana reform backers got a huge boost in november when voters in colorado and washington state legalized recreational pot. recent polls have found the nation just about s

can't win? what does this mean? >> well, chris, what it looks like happened here is that morsi, president morsi of egypt, seized these powers in part to ram this constitution through the constitutional assembly. and now that it's through the constitutional assembly and we have this referendum coming up on saturday, he's sort of maneuvering to try to weaken the opposition to it. you saw he partially rescinded his seizing of those extra powers. he's also coopted the military by giving them sort of special status in this constitution. frankly, chris, he's also in a sense weakened international opposition by doing certain cooperative things in terms of regional politics and regional stability. so it's all a very savvy set of moves by morsi. but we'll see if it succeeds on saturday. >> the national salvation front, which is an alliance of these prominent opposition figures, is warning that a referendum amid the current political crisis will actually plunge the country into even more chaos. what are your thoughts? what are the chances this referendum will happen on saturday? and, if

of president morsi. >> good morning, chris. >> obviously the protests aren't letting up. they're using stones, molotov cocktails, the tanks are in the streets. is there any sign that president morsi will give into protester demands rescind the decree that gives him almost absolute power? >> the muslim brotherhood as reached out and talked about a dialogue with the opposition and president morsi is to address the nation in a way to finally talk and explain his motives and what his intentions are. i think this was a colossal mista mistake in seizing this much power without explaining to his nation since the biggest crisis of the ouster of hosni mubarak two years ago. this could be a turning point. egypt will go to the polls next week to vote on this constitutional referendum, which really will define the new order in egypt with rippling repercussions across the region so this crisis can't be overestimated. it's really fundamental to what happens next in the so-called arab spring. >> in fact, three of morsi's advisers resigned yesterday. the u.s. has not criticized him public live s

protesters furious about president mohamed morsi, his power grab and hastily passed draft constitution that they say leaves them, the people, out of the process. the other group called in by the pro-morsi islamist group, the muslim brotherhood, to show support for the president. it was the muslim brotherhood headquarters that have apparently been set on fire. >>> a family living underground to avoid bombs in syria. cnn takes you inside their chilling reality. i'm brooke baldwin. the news is now. >>> a little girl in the middle of a nasty custody fight. today, it goes to the nation's highest court. >>> and they're young. they're popular. they're on the short list for 2016. >> we must speak to the aspirations and the anxieties of every american. >> so if paul ryan and marco rubio are the future of the gop, how do veteran republicans feel about that? [ male announcer ] this is bob, a regular guy with an irregular heartbeat. the usual, bob? not today. [ male announcer ] bob has afib: atrial fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem, a condition that puts him at greater risk for a st

going to go. it has huge implications. martha: you see these protesters furious for morsi's power grab and his rushing through a new constitution drafted by his muslim brotherhood allies. many fear if it's adhered to it could turn egypt into an islamic state. bill: how close did the protesters get to the president? >> reporter: the protesters got right to the walls of the presidential compound. it's the first time we saw them move from tahrir square. they broke through the walls protecting the compound. the protesters did not try to scale the walls of that presidential compound and there were no serious injuries reported on either side. despite large scenes of chaos and an angry crowd. bill: what should we watch today? what is critical? >> reporter: we are likely to see a counter protest from those who support morsi. we'll see back and forth protests from both sides. martha: could it be the beginning of calls for a great municipal bailout? there are great questions raised by a video of a detroit city councilwoman who calls on president obama to bail out her cash-strapped city for payba

in egypt, even as president mohamed morsi was asserting dictatorial powers and his followers were beating up secular liberals in the streets of cairo? when assessing the turbulent events in the arab world, we should remind ourselves that we're witnessing a revolution that may take decades to produce a stable outcome, with the outcome so hard to predict, it's a mistake to make big bets on any particular player. america will help the arab world through this turmoil if it states clearly that u.s. policy is guided by its interests and values, not by transient alliances and friendships. if morsi wants to be treated as a democratic leader, he will have to act like one." and david, i guess we can begin with that question. will he ultimately? can he? and are these fluctuations expected? >> morsi did something that's, in hindsight, a very stupid move. on november 22nd, he announced that he was no longer subject to review by the egyptian courts. and this was read, i think, properly as an attempt to get near dictatorial powers as egypt headed toward approval of a new constitution which has b

egypt, i just saw him in the hall a few minutes ago. morsi's palace is surrounded by people who do not want to trade one form of despotism for another, do not want to trade autocracy for theocracy. do we help them? do we leave it all alone, or do we help morsi and perhaps empower him to establish a theocratic dictatorship regime of the muslim brotherhood which we will be told will be the moderate muslim brotherhood? so i've opened up a door, in two or three words, yes or no. [laughter] >> well, let me see. as i look behind me and see we are guests of the foundation for defense of democracy -- [laughter] it's one that i feel deeply which is, obviously, in the choice between dictatorship and disdealts, we've always got to go with the dissidents, because that's who we are. we're a nation founded on a set of principles that have never perfectly but much more often than not and much more than other nations have guided our behavior, and those principles are most eloquently and compellingly in the declaration of independence. we have a mission which is the same reason the founders created

has been released. he's expected to be reunited with his family soon. >>> morsi has canceled a decree giving him sweeping new powers but anything that was proposed before it will stand. it triggered vie lend protests. critics call morsi's latest move a farce, a referendum on egypt's constitution is set for next week. >>> president obama is taking his message of mid-class tax cuts back on the road. he's heading to m tomorrow the plant is a uaw shop and it's expected to pull him into the debate over the union's and to organize workers. those are your top stories. "reliable sources" is up at the top of the hour but right now back to "fareed zakaria gps." >>> one out of two men will develop cancer in their lifetime. women are a little luckier. one out of three will get it. regards of your sex, those are terrifying numbers. but all of that could change because cures are inside. this is the president of the world's largest cancer center, m.d. anderson in houston, texas. >>> you believe we are at a point where we could actually cure cancer. >> i think we're at a major turning point in

egypt's presidential palace. police firing tear gas at anti-morsi demonstrators who broke through a barbed wire barricade. at least 19 people are injured. this comes after an earlier attack today on the offices of president morsi's political party. >>> a "360" follow. american software mogul john mcafee on the run from police in belize is in guatemala and seeking asylum. he's wanted for questioning in the shooting death of his neighbor in belize. mcafee's attorney confirmed the asylum request and denies he had anything to do with the murder. >>> prince william visiting his wife katherine today as she spends a second day in the hospital. news that the royal couple are expecting a child came as she was admitted yesterday for acute morning sickness. buckingham palace says the duchess could remain in the hospital for days. >>> anderson we missed you on "360" yesterday. today, we learned why. >> i wake up in the middle of the night and it feels like my eyes are on fire. my eyeballs. i think oh, well maybe i have sand in my eyes or something. i doused my eyes with water. anyway, it turns

presidential order to vacate the area. president morsi is scheduled to address the nation later today. nbc's jim maceda is live in cairo. jim, what is the latest on what i know is a fast-moving story? >> reporter: hi there, chris. president morsi, as you say, was to broadcast a recorded statement on tv about 2 1/2 hours ago. that has not yet happened. he's expected to talk about and explain his moves over the past two weeks, starting with that controversial decree of november 22nd. recall that's the one that gave him the monopoly on power. he's expected, according to the experts here to offer the opposition a way out of the mess, which was floated yesterday by morsi's vice president. it's a compromise where both sides would work on amending those contentious, about 15 contentious articles of draft constitution, bud but they'd both agree on the specific december 15th day for the referendum. right out in both sides are very, very far apart. meanwhile, tense here but a lot calmer, chris, around the presidential palace tonight than it was yesterday at this time. the fighting has eas

with morsi. david sanger with egypt and morsi, is this going to be a situation, does he back off of this a little bit because there's such an uprising? >> yeah, you'd think so but so far his public signals have been doubling down on passing the constitution that would give him these big powers. i can't imagine that's a particularly sustainable position after he saw what happened to mubarak. >> right, he wouldn't be there. >> steve, what is the role of the united states in trying to push morrissey on this? >> i think a $4.9 billion imf package. and a very narrow window morsi has to influence the economic v vector for the country. and if he doesn't figure out a way to work with other parts of the egyptian political establishment that money is going to disappear. it's all financial leverage. >>> next the bizarre head scratching move from the romney campaign. plus, the showdown of 2012 is upon us. we'll tell you where that's taking place. first today's trivia question. senator jim demint's decision to step down means south carolina will have two senate seats on the ballot in 2014. who w

protests are escalating right now between those who support mohammed morsi and those who opposed him. fierce street battles today killed five people and left more than 600 injured. outside the presidential palace. that is the worst outbreak of violence since morsi's election. the protests began two weeks ago when morsi took almost absolute power by exempting himself from judicial oversights and his spoofers quickly passed a draft constitution. at a white house briefing yesterday, press secretary jay carney refused to take sides or to say whether president obama supports the islamist leader but he did say the united states continues to have an important relationship with egypt. >>> turning to a disaster here at home, the white house says it will send in an emergency request to capitol hill this week asking for up to $60 billion to help recover from hurricane sandy. if approved, much of the money will go toward rebuilding homes and communities but top administrators say they want at least some of the funds to build up the region's defenses, protecting the area against future storms. an

continue in egypt as president morsi opponents are expected to march on the office tomorrow for kris schism of the draft constitution that will be voted on in less than two weeks. judges said it will not supervise the vote on december 15th. after the draft was quickly approved last week by islamist nominated panel egypt's top court forced to suspend to work in crowds, supporters appeared outside to protest. a planned hearing on whether or not the asemibly that approved the draft was legitimate. they are taking offense to limitations in the draft constitution. 1 # 1 newspapers vowed not to publish tomorrow. a privately owned television network plans to go dark all day. >> wasn't the arab spring a year and a half ago. like setting up to do if again. >> it feels that way. %-want to seal the deal orn that congressmen that can't get a deal done? two -- who americans trust the e least. >> hundreds of thousands of cars destroyed by the hurricane sandy, but automobiles flocking back as drivers flock to the dealership. a view from the showroom just ahead. ♪ she keeps you guessing. it's part

president mohamed morsi after he gave himself unchecked powers last month. the opposition is calling for new nationwide protests ahead of the vote. >>> and the nobel peace prize has been given to the european union. the three presidents of the eu's main bodies accepted the prestigious award this morning at a ceremony in oslo, norway, but this year's choice was not without controversy. three former nobel laureates wrote a letter of protest saying the union doesn't qualify as a peace maker. >>> for the second time in two weekds, an nfl team overcomes the death of a teammate with a victory on the field. this time it was the dallas cowboys. on the sidelines sunday, the jersey of jerry brown jr. was draped over the team bench. a member of the practice squad, brown died saturday in a car crash driven by a teammate, the car was. the cowboys came back from a nine-point deficit to beat the cincinnati bengals on a dramatic last second field goal. brown's jersey was held up after the emotional win, and following the game, cowboys head coach jason garrett talked about the focus his team

the new constitution. morsi has set a december 15th date for a vote on the document. joining me is joel rubin, director of policy and government. good to see you again. we're going to begin with egypt. one of your area's of expertise. is there anything in the new constitution that should concern the u.s.? >> well, the united states has major interests with e egypt. the security is a corner stone with our relationship with the arab world. we have to worry about the evolution of their democracy right now. they are in the middle of a difficult transition process after decades of dictatorship. and this constitutional process has had ups and downs. of course, many of our allies are in midst of democratic process sees that are also difficult. so it's not satisfying everybody. it's not satisfying the liberals and the secular groups that we have worked with and know very well. certainly the military will have concerns as well but there's civilian oversight. so it's a mixed bag. >> so the question that has to be asked, does this mean we should overlook potential human rights abuses and viol

march on the capitol. egypt is now divided into two camps, those who support morsi, and other ultra conservative islamist, pitted against youth groups, liberals and a large portion of the public. and it's election 2012 secrets revealed, kind of. a comprehensive harvard institute of public politics brought together rivals to debrief what we all went through. some of the highlights include that mitt romney never read clint eastwood's convention speech and president obama didn't fully commit to competing in florida until mid-september. we're back after the break. with a washington perspective from an emmy winning insider. >>you couldn't say it any more powerfully than that. >> current tv, on the roll. (vo)followed by humor and politics with a west coast edge. >>ah, thank you. >>it really is incredible. (vo)bill press and stephanie miller, current's morning news block. weekdays six to noon. from silver screens... to flat screens... twizzlerize your entertainment everyday with twizzlers the twist you can't resist. [♪ theme music ♪] >> announcer: ladies and gentlemen, it's the "stepha

supporters and supporters of morsi after he granted himself sweeping powers and passed a draft constitution that owe ponents say fails to protect justice and human rights kerry kennedy. thanks for joining the program. against the backdrop of syria and lesser extent egypt in terms of combatting grave human rights abuses around the world i wonder what you make of the american appetite as it stands given where we've been on certain issues after bosnia, rwanda, there was a sense we would not let these things go without attention and resources and you look at what's happening in syria and it's a complicated issue to be sure but is there an american outcry to the extent that we would have expected to have one, given where we've been on human rights abuses in previous eras? >> i think there is a tremendous amount of compassion and concern by ordinary americans. i hate to say this on this tv show, but you're actually covering those issues and a lot of places just aren't to the extent they used to. i think that's part of the problem. but one example of that is right now, one of the issu

strong, safe and free. >>> egyptian president mohamed morsi has given the military the authority to make arrests. this after saturday's revoking of a constitutional decree failed to put an end to the protests. >>> syrian rebels say they've captured a part of a large military base. it would be the latest in a series of setbacks for the assad regime. >>> south african officials say nelson mandela is doing very well after spending a second night in a hospital for what they are calling routine tests. >>> dallas cowboys player josh brent was released from jail on a $500,000 bond. brent was charged with intoxication manslaughter after a car crash that killed his friend and teammate jerry brown. >>> two university of colorado students have been arrested after allegedly feeding pot brownies to their classmate and a college professor. three people including the professor were hospitalized after eating those brownies. >>> still ahead, the new health care law means new taxes are about to go into effect. but who's going to be footing the bill for that one? joining me next, "the washington post'

spending cuts take hold. >> opponents of egyptian president mohamed morsi are not letting up. they're calling for nationwide protests after morsi refused to set a date. he gave himself sweeping parties and wasn't enough to appease his critics. >> packers quarterback aaron rodgers running for a 27-yard touchdown. yeah, that's the longest in his career. green bay's 27-20 victory over detroit. packers now have an nfl record 22-game winning streak at home against the lions and can clinch the nfc north next weekend. but that would require a win over chicago. it's hanukkah time. that's what they did in washington sunday. the national hanukkah menorah was illuminated during a ceremony outside the white house. it stands adjacent to the white house christmas tree. as he's done for 20 years, the rabbi presided over that ceremony. 20 years. that is quite a streak. >> very nice. thank you. >>> 49 minutes past the hour. people waking up in minnesota right now have a little work to do, i would say so. there is as much as 17 inches of snow waiting to be shoveled outside. in some parts of th

opponents of president mohamed morsi. this coming saturday, egyptians vote on a constitution that morsi's critics say will mov move egypt back to the dark ages. >> i have spent all of my life for dialogue but we are not going to compromise on our principles. we are at the cross of the road. either a country that is respect women rights for freedom of religion, balance of power, or we're going to have a new dictatorship and obviously that is not the way we would like to accept and would never accept. i'm not talking about, you know, people going to the states or, you know, saying that the media is blas fem mouse. that's not the kind of egypt that we would like to see. it's a question between whether we're going forward, catching up with the 21st century or going back to the dark ages. >> over the weekend, president morsi canceled a hearing that gave him unchecked power. >>> have you in theed the gas prices are down and they may keep falling. we're going to show you why. ate. prices are down and they may keep falling. we're going to show you why. th prices are down and they may keep falling

. egypt is now divided into two camps, those who support morsi, and other ultra conservative islamist pitted against youth groups liberals and a large portion of the public. and it's election 2012 secrets revealed, kind of. a comprehensive harvard institute of public politics brought together rivals to debrief what we all went through. some of the highlights include that mitt romney never read clint eastwood's convention speech and president obama didn't fully commit t alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks. i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. did you get chips for the party? nope. cheese plate? cheese plate...nope. i made something better. ♪ ♪ you used the oven? ♪ ♪ [

after egypt's top judges suspended work when president morsi's supporters blocked them from entering the courthouse. but morsi opponents protesting the new constitution say they'll hold a general strike tomorrow. >>> and mitt romney is getting back to work. he'll be rejoining marriott international's board of directors in a job he held before his failed bid for the white house. since the election, romney's stayed mostly out of the spotlight and pretty quiet. he and paul ryan met with president obama in washington last week. >>> witnesses say it was terrifying, a crushing tunnel collapse about 50 miles west of tokyo. authorities have recovered nine bodies, most of them from burned vehicles. experts say aging parts in the tunnel could be to blame. the disaster has prompted japanese officials to order emergency inspections of dudsens of other tunnels with similar designs across the country. >>> and here's a sign of the times. the pope is on twitter. the vatican today revealed pope benedict's personal handle is @pontifacts. the vatican said the pope believes the catholic church must be p